How Nile Crocodiles Are Bigger and Badder Than Alligators and other top stories.

• How Nile Crocodiles Are Bigger and Badder Than Alligators

  With toothy jaws and a long scaly tail, Florida's newest invader may look like its American cousins—but that's where the similarities end.  The Nile crocodile—four of which have been found in the state's swamps since 2000—are more dangerous than the native crocodiles and alligators, scientists say.  The second largest living crocodilian, the Nile can reach 20 feet (six meters) in length and take down everything from hippos to humans. It has a reputation in its native Africa for being a man-e..

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• Weird dolphin-like fossil suggests reptiles evolved quicker than we thought

  

  A new study reveals that early marine reptiles may have evolved faster than previously thought.The evolution of ichthyosaurs, marine reptiles that superficially resembled modern-day dolphins, has remained elusive to scientists, and a theory that has long been accepted suggested that the evolution was a slow, gradual process. But the discovery of a new fossil – Sclerocormus parviceps  – now casts doubts into the theory.The new study, published Monday in Scientific Reports, suggested that ichthyo..

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• 5000-year-old Chinese beer recipe had secret ingredient

  

  Barley might have been the "secret ingredient" in a 5,000-year-old beer recipe that has been reconstructed from residues on prehistoric pots from China, according to new archaeological research.Scientists conducted tests on ancient pottery jars and funnels found at the Mijiaya archaeological site in China's Shaanxi province. The analyses revealed traces of oxalate -- a beer-making byproduct that forms a scale called "beerstone" in brewing equipment -- as well as residues from a variety of ancie..

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